The siege on the Birmingham clinic is headed by Operation Save America leader Flip Benham, who has some friends in very high places — and some friends who are very dangerous. Benham and other “pro-life” activists will insist that their movement isn’t violent, and that it’s only a handful of extremists who are taking these kinds of actions. That would be believable if not for statistics — like the fact that in 1996, almost a third of abortion clinics reported violent attacks. And the fact that there have been 24 murders or attempted murders. 41 bombings. 173 arsons. 93 attempted bombings and arsons. 378 invasions. 1292 acts of vandalism. 1702 tresspassings. 100 butyric acid attacks. 655 anthrax threats. 162 assault & batteries. 385 death threats. 4 kidnappings. 126 burglaries. 487 stalkings. 11725 incidents of hate mail/harassing calls. 101 hoax packages and devices. 620 bomb threats. 751 clinic blockades.